Florida Closes Alligator Alcatraz Detention Facility After Transferring All Detainees

Florida permanently closed the temporary immigration detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz on June 25, 2026. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that all federal detainees had been transferred to other facilities, leaving zero at the site.

The facility sits at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in the Florida Everglades, about 50 miles west of Miami. It was completed in less than two weeks. The site led to the deportation of almost 21,000 illegal immigrants, mainly individuals who had criminal records or were wanted for crimes, ZeroHedge reported.

Those crimes included sexual battery, international cartel activity, drug trafficking, homicide, burglary, fraud, fentanyl distribution, and Medicaid fraud. The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season began on June 1, prompting Florida officials to move detainees out of the soft-sided facility.

Florida's Deportation Depot in Baker County has processed 10,000 illegal immigrants and will continue to operate.

Florida has accounted for 40 percent of all immigrant arrests during President Donald Trump's second term, DeSantis said. U.S. Border Czar Tom Homan joined Florida officials at the closure. Homan stated that the Trump administration reduced illegal immigration by 97 percent at the border.

He also said the administration recovered 147,000 out of 300,000 immigrant children reported missing under former President Joe Biden's administration. In July 2025, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the facility. The ACLU alleged lack of access to the facility and lack of due process for detainees.